Just Like Blowing Out A Birthday Candle
by Terp4Life
Summary: The original ending of the series was just not okay, so I wrote my own. My shortest fic ever (by far) in an attempt at closure. Also my first and last Covert Affairs fic.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs. If I did, the last two seasons would have been very different.**

 _A/N: Four years later, a friend and I binge rewatched most of Covert Affairs and I found that I'm not over the way the writers ended it. Seeking closure all over again, I gave Annie and Auggie a little nudge. Hope you enjoy it._

Auggie's words rang in her ears as she stood in front of him with her eyes closed, as instructed.

" _Your intuition has never let you down before. It won't now. So trust it. Trust your heart."_

 _But—_

 _But nothing_. _He's right. Just like he's always been right. For once, don't be too stubborn to admit it._

"I got it," Annie said softly, opening her eyes and looking at him. Hesitating for only a second, she added, "Don't go with Natasha." She knew the implications of what she was saying, and she knew that he would understand them. It was now or never.

His eyebrows went up and even though she knew he couldn't see her, his face pointed exactly in her direction as if he was staring at her. It was fitting, since he'd always managed to see her better than anyone else.

"Why not?" His face wasn't giving anything away so far.

"Are you guys back together?" she asked, thinking that maybe she should have asked that earlier.

She hadn't answered his question, but he answered hers anyway.

"No. I heard from her for the first time in years last week. I told her that I was leaving the Agency, and that I needed a change. It just so happened that she was at a similar point in her life and… it just sounded like a good idea."

"Oh," she said simply, nodding her head and reminding herself to trust her intuition. This chance would probably never come again.

"So are you going to answer my question now?" he asked. "You didn't tell me why I shouldn't go with her."

"Because I'm selfish, and I don't want you to," she whispered.

Auggie took half a step towards her, but kept his hands on the top of his cane.

"You, Annie Walker, are the last person in the world who has ever been selfish. You've always been the one to rush headfirst towards danger, usually putting yourself last. Nothing would make me happier than to see you be a little selfish."

She scoffed quietly, feeling an ache in her chest. That was such an Auggie thing to say.

"So tell me, if I shouldn't go with Natasha, what should I do instead?"

His voice was serious yet soft, and the air between them was suddenly charged.

"Stay here," she said simply.

"Here as in DC?" he asked.

It was obvious what he was doing, making her say the words, but she was glad. She needed to say them.

"Here as in here. With me." Now it was Annie's turn to take a half step forward, bringing them within inches of each other. They'd stood this close many times before, of course. Even before they'd been together, they'd always been the kind of friends who were comfortable with the other's proximity.

Searching his face for clues, she laid one hand on top of his where they rested on his cane. The seconds that she waited for him to respond felt like eternity.

"Is that what you really want?" he asked.

"That's the only thing I want," she replied. "I just want to forget the rest of the mess, everything that drove us apart. I know we can't rewind time, but I just want—"

She broke off abruptly and closed her eyes, remembering everything that had come between them in the past. Henry Wilcox. The lies. Other people. The CIA. So much drama that now felt inconsequential.

 _How did we let it all push us apart?_ She remembered what had happened, and yet…

"You want what?" he asked.

"I know I have no right to want this, after everything." Her certainty was quickly draining away, and she regretted having been so honest so quickly.

"Don't do that. Tell me what you want," Auggie said evenly.

"You. Us," she said simply.

He smiled then, and she realized that she hadn't seen him look this happy in so long, she'd almost forgotten what it looked like.

"I'd like that," he replied, pulling his hands out from hers so he could reach around her shoulders and pull her closer. As soon as he did, she felt herself relax, and her arms wound around him without a second thought. She closed her eyes again and hung on tight, pushing every single thought out of her mind. Nothing else mattered.

When she forced herself to refocus on what her heart wanted, just as Auggie had told her to, it seemed obvious.

 _Why didn't I see this a long time ago?_

"Just like blowing out a birthday candle," Annie whispered, and smiled as he planted a kiss in her hair.

"You know what I like about you?" he asked without letting go.

"Just one thing?" she asked innocently, suddenly remembering a similar conversation in an airport years ago, in which their roles had been reversed.

"No, not just one thing. Everything," he whispered near her ear. "And now you're stuck with me."


End file.
